Mississauga is poised to take on debt for the first time in three decades, thereby becoming a real city

Toronto’s right-wing councillors will soon have one fewer reason to be jealous of Mississauga (although ’sauga does have the Big Smoke beat in the charismatic mayor category):the city will soon begin borrowing money to help fix crumbling infrastructure,amove that ends MayorHazel McCallion’s debt-free streak.Not to mention that the Toronto Starreports the cityis considering a nearly 11 per cent property tax increase (a number the City of Mississauga disputes, stating that the figure was never actually under consideration),along with approving a transit fare hike and“substantial transit service cuts.”This all sounds pretty familiar. And it (somehow) gets worse:the planned $450 million in loans still leaves Mississauga with a more than $1 billion funding gap for infrastructure renewal over the next two decades.The Star quotes Mississauga’s director of finance, Patti Elliott-Spencer, as saying,“Every city that matures finds itself in thissituation.”That may be true. So to Mississauga, we offer a friendly welcome to the big leagues. UPDATE: Read the entire story [Toronto Star] »